About

Maximilien is a contemporary French restaurant. This eatery is located on the iconic Puget Sound of Elliot Bay in Seattle. Diners are given a spectacular panoramic view of the nearby Olympic Mountains and can watch passers by enjoy the nearby pier complete with Ferris wheel. Maximilien also offers a large wraparound patio for diners to enjoy their meals outside.

Maximilien's menu focuses on making fine French cuisine approachable to typical American diners. Executive Chef Christian Potvin has created a unique menu by taking locally-sourced Washington ingredients and cooking them using classic French techniques. Appetizers at Maximilien's include fresh oysters on the half shell and escargot in garlic and parsley-butter. Dinner options include pan-seared Painted Hills natural beef tenderloin, White bean cassoulet with Touloise sausage and a duo of Hudson Valley duck leg confit with seared duck breast, Brussel sprouts, carrots, Chantrelles and green peppercorn sauce.

Dining Style

Casual Elegant

icon/ic_cuisineCreated with Sketch.

Cuisines

French, Northwest

icon/ic_clockCreated with Sketch.

Hours of operation

Maximilien French restaurant is no longer accepting reservation through OpenTable. To make reservations, please visit our web site at www.MaximilienRestaurant.com or call us!

Whether you are planning a company event, holiday party, wedding reception or any kind of occasion, we will ensure your experience will be expertly produced with the same flavorful gourmet cuisine and attentive service we deliver to our guests every day.

Here are some tips to park in the Pike Place Market when you visit us:

Parking at the Market is very easy. The Market garage at 1531 Western Avenue is just down the hill from Victor Steinbrueck Park and offers affordable parking rates. There is also the Valet Parking every Thursday, Friday and Saturday (after 5:30pm) adjacent to the Market's info booth.http://www.maximilienrestaurant.com/parking

icon/ic_entertainmentCreated with Sketch.

Entertainment

Maximilien offers theme dinner regularly. On special dinner nights we offer unique cuisine from different French regions, or accented around a holiday theme such as Bastille Day or Beaujolais Nouveau. This is the perfect occasion to try "hard to find" gourmet preparations or enjoy a romantic dinner with live classic guitar.

Every first Thursday of the month is Downtown Seattle Art Walk. Join Seattle's leading art galleries in welcoming their new monthly exhibits & artists.

Visit us after your Art Walk for dinner, happy hour or just cocktails and enjoy live music!

icon/ic_special_eventsCreated with Sketch.

Special events & promotions

Maximilien offers theme dinner regularly.On special dinner nights we offer unique cuisine from different French regions, or accented around a holiday theme such as Bastille Day or Beaujolais Nouveau. This is the perfect occasion to try "hard to find" gourmet preparations or enjoy a romantic dinner with live classic guitar. Be sure to join our mailing list if you would like to be the first to know about special events.

a beautiful setting on a summer evening- unfortunately the charm ends there...ordered martinis & asked what gins they had- Shureal (a phonetic spelling of her name) didn't know- as she said "...there are four- do I need to go back inside to check...?" asked about oysters- wanted to know what kind they were & how they were tasting- she quickly told us they were good, the Puget Sound "out there is cold even in the summer"...I've lived in Seattle since 1990 & know oysters are not always delicious in the summer months. We passed on oysters. I ordered a market salad w/ salmon (on the menu it was labeled "Copper River King Salmon"- as previous mentioned I've lived here for 25+ years- it's a first for me to have Copper River Salmon available in August). Asked for salmon undercooked & dressing on the side. Husband had duck w/ foie gras. Dinner arrived w/ overcooked salmon (light colored, mushy, possibly frozen? not the deep red color of copper river) & lettuce dressed, Shureal said "...oh- do you want me to take it back to the kitchen...?" No concern whatsoever that what the customer had ordered had not been delivered. Husband's foie gras was cold. Don't think they worry about repeat customers- this was not on our list of restaurants to dine at for many years until someone told us they had great moules frites so we decided to try it. Won't be back. Visitors to our great city- there are many good quality, pleasant, delicious restaurants in Seattle- don't be sucked in by a lovely patio.

We were impressed right from the start - the bread and butter alone were enough to get a 5 star review out of me! The service was superb and the food was outstanding, authentic, beautifully presented and unforgettable. I also appreciated being able to enjoy conversation with the others in my party without competing with loud music or too many other loud voices. It was an overall excellent dining experience.

Our wife and I came into Downtown Seattle for a birthday lunch at Maximilien's. We have eaten here several times before and have always had an excellent meal. I had the Pike Place Market salad which was a delicious mix of greens, fingerling potatoes, green beans, red peppers, kalamata olives, hard boiled egg, and anchovies (!). I ordered the smoked salmon extra. It was delicious. We had a glass of French wine to celebrate. The service was very attentive and professional. The view of Puget Sound is sweeping and is enjoyable even on a cloudy rainy Seattle day.

My wife and I wanted a nice first dinner experience on hour honeymoon. I would submit that it is more than safe to say there is no better restaurant we could have picked for our experience. Ambience, service, and food quality were over the top. Cheers to Maximilien, I hope to return soon!

This was my first time dining at the Maximilien and made a reservation to celebrate our anniversary. The place was quite and romantic, but I dined on a rainy Wednesday's evening, and despite it was dark outside the water view was still good; the Ferris Wheel is at a stone's throw from the restaurant.

The food was good and rich as expected for a true French cuisine; but perhaps a bit too rich. I went for the Le Gourmand Menu with wine pairing and chose the Escargots à la Bourguignonne and Magret et Confit de Canard au Poivre Vert; hey were both excellent. The combination of flavors was very good but a couple of pieces of meat were slightly chewy.

The Crème brûlée au Café dessert was also very good but not the best I ever had. The espresso I ordered along with the dessert was perfectly made, an item that for me is hard to find in Seattle restaurants.

The wine pairing was very good.

A small bite of my wife's King salmon entree revealed once again the drive for richness in flavor, which is very unnecessary for our local salmons.

Overall it is a place I would recommend and that I will definitely return for dining.

The food here is just excellent. I lived in France and this cuisine is really top. HOWEVER, do not make a reservation for 8 pm because they very rudely ask you to leave at 10 pm. It is unbelievable. The first time it happened to me several months ago, I thought it was exceedingly bizarre and completely UN-French. I was astonished. I let it go because the food is good.

Then it happened again this week! We had dinner at 8:30, with excellent food and service, and just as we were about to ask to see the dessert menu, the waiter comes out, places a chocolate mousse on the table, and says, "There's no dessert menu because the kitchen is closed, so you can have this." It was incredibly poor service. If they are not ready to serve people until 10:30 or 11 on a *Thursday* night, then they should not accept reservations at 8pm. Astonishing.

Excellent French dining experience! We went for the Seattle Restaurant Week deal this time, great selection and everything was delicious! We had the pork and the salmon, both great. Cocktails, wine list, wine pairing flight, desserts, everything was superb. A little pricey regularly but definitely worth it. Great location inside Pike Place Market. Thanks!

This is the second time my husband and I have been here. Both times were wonderful, though this time was more expensive than we'd planned; however, that was mostly due to the drinks we had, so I would still say that the value is good, especially for food only.

The scallops were perfectly cooked, the foie gras had great texture, all the sides really meshed well with the entrees, and the dessert souffle was heaven. The only negative things were that the chutney accompanying the foie gras was rather overpowering in anything other than tiny amounts, and I ended up not liking the baked goat cheese app very much, though that may just be personal taste. I would also have preferred the table bread to be a little warm and the butter softened, though previous reviews did mention these were served cold/cool.

The few minor things about the service were it was a bit slower than I would have liked overall, particularly when we first got there. He may have just been giving us space to look over the menu and have our celebratory champagne, as the rest of the night he was fairly attentive, but unobtrusive. It also would have been nice to have the table crumbed, as the bread crust was very flaky, but both of these things were very minor issues.

It was busier than I expected on a Monday night, so wasn't quite as quiet and cozy as I'd hoped, but it wasn't terribly noisy either. We didn't have any problems hearing each other, but there was more ambient noise than the last time.

Overall, it was a great experience, with only a few very minor things that stood out to me. Our server was knowledgeable about the dishes and wine list and overall fairly attentive but not obtrusive. Our drinks jacked up the bill, but I don't think they were any more expensive than most other restaurants, we just had more of them. I would definitely recommend this restaurant for a date night.

The restaurant is in a great location to view Puget Sound and the boats. It is right inside the Pike Market. The food has always been good The muscles are excellent and the menu is good with a lot of choices. It is a great place for either lunch or dinner

Found this place while walking in the market. The view caught my attention. The food was very good. Went back again later in the week for dinner. Out of town traveller, so probably won't be back soon. But would definitely recommend

we returned to Seattle for our aniversary and loved being able to celebrate at maxamillions again. the views are simply the best! I only wish they'd bring back thebone marrow. I recommend going. I imagine lunch on the rooftop when weather permits is amazing. my wife and I saw where the tables are and the view isgreat there too.

We were late for our reservation but were greeted quite graciously and shown to our table immediately. Beautiful view, conducive to quiet conversation, lots of attention from wait staff though not intrusive. Abundant French charm and the food was simple and delicious!

We ordered the three course meal. The bread was cold and hard same as the butter it came with. I was not a fan of the foie gras mainly because the bread it was served under it was strange, but the escargot was great. The main course was a surprisingly large portion. We the halibut and the duck. The halibut dish came in a watery cream base. It was good but the watery consistency threw me off. The duck was delicious. As far as the wine, let's just say it's well portioned as in they did not give you much. The view was beautiful though. I'm short but the table seemed too low for me to cross my legs. My husband was uncomfortable as his legs were hitting the bottom of the table. I probably would not come here again for dinner but would tryi it out for lunch since the outside space looks quite nice.

Waiter was not pouring my drinks. I bought a bottle of ruinart for $130. Also brought another bottle of red. The first glass of champagne he bothered to pour, but I stepped out and when I returned, my glass was filled. This waiter popped the bottle without me being there. My wife and I ordered escargots and oysters to share, well it came together which was odd. My wife sent the duck back, because it was chewy and it wasn't taken away properly, questions were asked. Next portion of duck was better, yet chewy again. Before going to this place I was not able to locate wine list on open table and when I got there I realized why. French restaurant does not offer any or few burgundy wines. Not a single premier cru or mersault in the menu. Now positives. Great location and outside sitting area offers amazing views. My beef was amazing, the best I ever had. If I were to come back it will be for the views and the beef. I did not hate this place. It's not the best, but not bad...

My wife and I had eaten several excellent lunches and dinners at Place Pigalle, which is next to Maximilien's; so last week we thought we should give Maximilien's a try. We were seated at a table with gorgeous view of Puget Sound and the Olympics, but that was the best part of the dinner.

The meal got off to a poor start. The rather supercilious waiter informed me that the pinot noir I ordered would overwhelm the fish that my wife had requested. I would not have minded his advice ; but he was essentially telling me "Bad choice!" which I did not believe was the case.

I ordered a smoked salmon appetizer to share with my wife, but it did not appear until mid-way through the meal. It came only because I reminded our waiter that he had apparently forgotten it. I got only an "Oh, I am sorry." and ten minutes later the appetizer finally did appear, with no further apology.

I also ordered a baked goat cheese appetizer for myself. The baked goat cheese was huge; and, when I commented to the waiter that I did not understand how people could eat it and a main course too, he said, "We give customers their money's worth."

The baked goat cheese came topped with a small salad, and I chewed down on a rather large piece of grit. I thought I must have broken a tooth. I showed the grit to the waiter,and suggested that he tell the kitchen to take more care in washing their salads greens. "Sorry," was all he said.

My wife was given a very large piece of halibut, surrounded by a sea of peas and bacon in a cream sauce that was, thanks to the bacon, slightly salty but not a all tasty.

Dessert was the best course of the meal. It consisted of a sampler of four different desserts on the menu, plus an espresso for $9; and I was not charged extra for replacing the espresso with a very large cup of cappuccino.

With wine and tip, the dinner cost about $150 for poor service, a mediocre meal, and a large piece of grit. My wife and I will not be going back to Maximilien's again.

Hard place to find when using map quest and when I called for better directions no one ever came to the phone after using the proper option. So we just walked around aimlessly. Menu was small which was expected. We ordered an appetizer but the waiter forgot to put it in. Working in the restaurant business you know that there is some sort of compensatory mechanism put in place. Not that I'm asking for free food, but on the night of a 12 year anniversary one would hope that at least the manager would come by to apologize.

Outstanding lunch experience -- took two guests to enjoy a business lunch and can't think of another lunch experience that was better in the last decade. Superb service -- friendly, attentive -- great recommendations -- great food and drink.